General Maintenance

• Thin seedlings as they grow.
• Keep on top of weed growth by hoeing on dry warmer days.
• Watch out for pests such as Aphids, Slugs and Snails.
  Start the annual vigil against them with your preferred method.
• If not already done so erect Bean rigs for Runner Beans and climbing French Beans.

Vegetables

• Keep earthing up Potatoes to exclude light and stop any poisonous green patches on the tubers.
• Harden off and plant crops raised under glass last month.
• Tomatoes that have been bought or raised for planting outside will need potting on if the weather is to cold for them to go out.
• Keep on with successional sowings of Radish, Lettuce, Rocket and all salad leaves.
• At the end of the month plant out Beans, French and Runner varieties along with self blanching Celery, but protect if there is any chance of a late frost.
• Plant Sweet Potato slips once the soil has warmed up.
• Sow Beetroot, winter cabbage, Broccoli and Swedes.

Fruit

• Net any developing fruits to protect from birds.
• Remove blossoms from newly planted trees to give them a chance to establish.
• Keep Strawberry fruits clean by tucking straw under the plants.
  Remove unwanted runners so the plant can put full effort into producing fruit.
  Pin down a few runners to produce plants for next year.
• prune out any unwanted Raspberry shoots to keep the plant open and allow the fruit to ripen
• Tie in canes as they grow on Blackberries and other ramblers.
• Remove alternate berries on Gooseberry bushes for bigger fruits. The small thinnings are used for cooking.

Greenhouse

• Crops that are to be grown in the greenhouse should be in their final position now. Or potted up into larger pots to keep them growing steadily.
• Pinch out the tips of Cucumbers and Melons when they have five leaves to induce fruiting side shoots.
• Crops that are waiting to be planted outside can be moved to the cold frame to harden off and give extra space in the greenhouse that is always at a premium at this time of year.
• Don't water plants over their foliage, small droplets of moisture can magnify the suns rays and lead to scorching.
• ventilate the greenhouse at every opportunity, day time temperatures can be very high.
• Greenhouse aphids and other pests will be very active now so catch them early before they can multiply to plague proportions.